Consequences
by IvyTower
Summary: Taking place ten years in the future, the characters lives have changed drastically. Some chose ambition, and some chose love. Sonic, however, refuses to change. He refuses to grow up, preferring to relive his glory days. This behaviour, however, will lead him into more trouble and strife as a toxic infection begins to spread.
1. New Lives

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**I DON'T USUALLY DO THESE AT THE BEGINNING, BUT HERE I AM, AS THIS IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW FOR THE STORY.**

**AS YOU READ IN THE SUMMARY, THIS IS TAKING PLACE IN THE FUTURE. THIS TAKES PLACE IN THE COMICS UNIVERSE, BUT YOU DON'T NEED A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING ON. AS IT'S TAKING PLACE IN THE FUTURE, LOTS OF THINGS HAVE CHANGED, INCLUDING SOME OF THE CHARACTERS PERSONALITIES, SO IF THEY SEEM OUT OF CHARACTER, THIS IS INTENTIONAL.**

**THIS WILL INCLUDE A COUPLE OF OCS, BUT THEY ONLY HAVE MINOR ROLES.**

**TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA, THESE ARE THE AGES OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE STORY:**

**SONIC - 25 YEARS OLD**

**TAILS - 18 YEARS OLD**

**KNUCKLES - 26 YEARS OLD**

**AMY - 22 YEARS OLD**

**(LADY) ROUGE - 28 YEARS OLD**

**SHADOW - 68 YEARS OLD (STILL PHYSICALLY 15)**

**CREAM - 16 YEARS OLD**

**CHARMY - 16 YEARS OLD**

**ESPIO - 26 YEARS OLD**

**VECTOR - 30 YEARS OLD**

**VANILLA - 37 YEARS OLD**

**SALLY - 27 YEARS OLD**

**BUNNIE - 28 YEARS OLD**

**ANTOINE - 29 YEARS OLD**

**JACQUES - 5 YEARS OLD**

**BELLE - 5 YEARS OLD**

**OMEGA AND NICOLE - THEIR AGES DON'T REALLY MATTER BECAUSE THEY'RE AI**

**EGGMAN - 64 YEARS OLD**

**BREEZIE - 32 YEARS OLD**

**NAT THE ERMINE - SHORT FOR NATASHA (OC) - 16 YEARS OLD**

**SAGA THE WOLF (OC) - 24 YEARS OLD**

**STRAWBERRY THE CAT (OC) - 16 YEARS OLD**

**LORD ROMAN THE FOX (OC) - 30 YEARS OLD**

* * *

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Tails' voice growled in a darkened office. It was early in the morning and he hadn't even got a chance to switch the lights on before he received a phone call. "You can shove the offer up your ass!"

The voice on the other line increased its volume, and Tails began to pace around the room. "I don't care about the money you have to offer!"

Tails sighed in exasperation as the call continued on. "Look, I really _don't care! _Nothing you might have will even _compare_ to what I'm going to get after this."

Tails cut the line then, and a smile crept on his face. He was going to change the world. No pathetic sum of money Breezie had to offer would change that.

The door suddenly opened and the lights came on. His assistant, Natasha, was breathing heavily as she opened the door. She rushed in and dropped a stack of papers on his desk. "I.. literally have.. no idea.. what this.. is for.. but here you go!" She said between frantic breaths. "Apparently.. they're super urgent!"

Tails smile only widened when he saw the papers. He handed Natasha his already empty cup of coffee. "Refill this for me."

* * *

Sonic huffed in annoyance, and banged his head against the wheel of the car, causing it to make a loud honking noise. The driving instructor sitting next to him jumped. "You need to learn to be more patient." The instructor remarked. "You can't use it unnecessarily, and especially don't bang your head against the wheel, that's a massive accident waiting to happen."

Sonic sat back in his chair and sighed. "But the traffic is so slow!" He whined.

"You said yourself you wanted to learn to drive, because you're well.. _too fast. _You wanted to avoid causing accidental destruction by learning how to drive a car instead." The man pointed out, hoping Sonic would settle down.

Sonic crossed his arms and pouted. "I didn't realise cars were this slow!"

"I-"

The instructor didn't get to finish his sentence, as suddenly Sonic jumped up into a ball and threw himself out of the car window. He then became a blue blur streaming across the road. "I'm done here, thanks anyway!" The hedgehog called. The instructor was left to shuffle awkwardly into the drivers seat, and he sighed at the shattered window.

_Thank God for insurance, _he thought to himself.

* * *

Cream had to bite her lip to hold back an "I told you so."

Strawberry had her arms around Cream's shoulders, the pink cat's shoulders were heaving up and down as she sobbed. "I just.. can't believe he cheated on me!"

Cream could believe that though. Considering his track record, she knew how this relationship was going to end. The rabbit had tried to warn her friend before, and she didn't listen. Look where she was now.

Cream however, decided to hug her friend, she didn't want to rub anymore salt into her wounds. After all, maybe this experience will help Strawberry learn something. "How about we go grab a coffee to cheer you up?" Cream suggested with a smile.

"I'd like that, thank you." Strawberry wiped away a tear.

"Don't get too caught up on this, okay? There are plenty of fish in the sea."

Strawberry started to cry again. "You're too good to me! Even after I refused to listen to you!"

Cream was used to it. Her quiet, sensible advice often went unnoticed until it was too late. She was thankful that she seemed to be a lot more mature than others her age. Maybe it was all those adventures she went on at the age of 6 that made her like this. "Why wouldn't I be nice to my friend? Look, I know it must seem like the end of the world, but I promise it's not."

Cream put on her coat and grabbed her textbook from her bedroom desk. Strawberry then smiled. "I'll help you with your science revision while we're out!" Strawberry offered.

* * *

"Lady Rouge? Your husband wants to see you." One of the maids said, peering around the door. Rouge had just finished the final touch of her lipstick.

"Perfect timing." Rouge remarked, placing the lipstick back in front of the mirror.

"He's in a rush. I think you should hurry." The maid gently insisted.

Rouge sighed. "When is he not in a hurry for something or other?" Rouge got up and followed after the maid, her black sparkly dress trailed behind her, and her long gold earrings dangled from her ear.

"Lord Roman has to leave soon for a party."

Rouge looked shocked. "He didn't invite me?"

The maid shook her head slowly.

"Interesting." Rouge's voice was faint, but there was a large smile.

Rouge approached the end of the steps, where Roman was waiting for her. "Goodbye, Darling. Make sure you don't forget to welcome the guests at 2:30." Her husbands hug was cold.

"Don't worry." Rouge breathed into his ear, causing it to twitch.

* * *

"Think of it like this - you have two apples in one hand, three in the other, how many d'ya have all together?" Bunnie asked her son, Jacques. Jacques pondered for a bit before finally speaking. "Six?"

Bunnie shook her head. "Look 'ere," she grabbed some apples from the fruit bowl. She separated a pile of two from a pile of three. "Let's count 'em." Sally watched on as Bunnie and Jacques began to count in unison. "One.. two.. three.. four.. five!"

"Oh, it's five!" Jacques exclaimed. "It's a lot easier when I have something to look at."

"D'ya think ya can do the next one?"

Jacques nodded enthusiastically. "Seven add two is nine!"

Bunnie looked on with joy and fascination at how easily Jacques was understanding the maths homework. "I'll leave ya to it!" she grinned.

His twin sister beamed at her mother. "I've already learnt my two times table!"

"Well done! I'll test ya on it later!" Bunnie promised, she turned to Sally. "Havin' kids I tell ya.." she began, "ya have to remember basic knowledge, it's like bein' in school again!"

Sally smiled sympathetically. "Just wait until the homework gets harder."

"I'll let Antoine help them learn the equation for calculating kinetic energy!" Bunnie dismissed Sally's comment.

Sally rolled her eyes fondly. "You can't dump it all on him."

"Watch me!" Bunnie grinned devilishly. The rabbit looked up at the clock. "Shouldn't ya get going now?"

"I suppose I should."

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**GASP! ANOTHER ONE?**

**YES INDEED, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT I HAVE COOL IDEAS FOR THIS ONE, AND THIS CHAPTER WAS JUST A SMALL GLIMPSE AT SOME OF THE CHARACTERS LIVES IN THE FUTURE, SO WHAT DO YA'LL THINK?**

**REVIEWS AND CRITIQUES ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED!**

**HAVE A NICE DAY FOLKS!**


	2. Seperation

Knuckles allowed his hair to flow behind him in the surprisingly strong wind. Truth was, he was incredibly bored, he couldn't imagine being more bored. Yet his stubbornness always prevented him from doing something else.

He turned his head to the glowing, green gem behind him, he had to squint to avoid being blinded by the light. No one had attempted to steal it for years, but he never seemed to be able to get away from it.

It was almost like something was physically keeping him rooted on the alter. Whenever he was about to leave he could almost swear there was a faint whispering, calling him back. Maybe that was just the duty of the guardian, maybe he should just get used to it. After all, he had neglected his duties for long enough in the past.

The wind suddenly became more extreme, almost blowing him completely over. Once he managed to steady himself he turned away from the Master Emerald and found himself face to face with none other than Sonic The Hedgehog.

Great.

"Yo, Knuckles.." Sonic was attempting to wave and grin in his usual carefree manner, but the uneasiness in his voice couldn't be disguised.

"What's wrong?" the echidna asked bluntly.

Sonic began to sweat and made a sound like he was trying to contain a scream. "I may or may not have.. dropped out of my driving lessons.."

Knuckles face palmed and sighed. "I won't lie, I expected it, but I'm still disappointed."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sonic huffed.

"Exactly what I said."

"Amy's going to be mad at me, and Sally, and.. just about everyone else!" Sonic began to fret as he paced back and forth.

"I don't really care, if that helps."

"Thanks dude.. life is just so slow now! It's tedious!"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. Sonic found his life dull? Pfft.

"I mean - the fastest thing alive driving a car? Doesn't that sound ridiculous?"

"You said it was for safety purposes." Knuckles' tone remained coldly even in an attempt to show patience.

Sonic let out a bit of a growl. "Sure, I don't want to hurt anyone by accident by running too fast, and so a car seemed to be the best option for travelling further distances in a fast manner-"

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't know! I miss the days when I could afford to mess up a few road works as I was saving the world! Now, people try to sue me if I knock down their flower display!"

Knuckles shuddered as he remembered the run-ins with the angry florist. "Times change." Knuckles shrugged eventually.

"Why should they?" the hedgehog spat with a surprising amount of force. "What happened to freedom and heroics? Now I'm always told to mature and settle down, and I hate it!"

"There's no need to be a hero anymore. Eggman has given up." Knuckles' voice was softer.

"Yeah.." Sonic's ears drooped. "It doesn't help seeing everyone else move on either.." Sonic's eyes suddenly appeared to spark. "Unless.."

"What are you thinking?"

Sonic grinned. "I don't know why I haven't thought if this earlier!"

Knuckles began to sweat as Sonic said more and more. "Please elaborate."

"Maybe because Amy will kill me.."

"Sonic! Please! Explain!"

Sonic began to turn to walk away, but glanced at Knuckles through the corner of his eye. "Do you think Team Dark will welcome a fourth member?"

Knuckles almost jumped back in shock. "I-I don't know!" The echidna stared through wide eyes. "No one even knows where they are!'

"You telling me Rouge and Shadow don't keep in touch? " Sonic gave a smug smile.

Knuckles always felt awkward whenever Rouge was mentioned. Her departure from Team Dark and her marriage to Lord Roman has been so sudden and unexpected. No one really knew how or even when Rouge left, it was only when Shadow and Omega were seen fighting on there own for a while was when the media started to piece things together. Then a couple of months after, they separated themselves from G.U.N entirely, and then it was found that Nicole had joined them. Newspapers tended to refer to her as 'Rouge's replacement' which was something Knuckles always thought was harsh. But he supposed it was quite appropriate all those that weren't able to die ended up in a team together.

"You can try.." Knuckles began. "Remember we don't really know what happened between them."

Sonic shrugged. "Guess I'll find out!"

"WAIT! AMY'S GOING TO- " It was too late, as Sonic had already sped away, leaving nothing but a blue trail.

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**TEAM DARK DRAMA? GASP! WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN THEM? AND WILL SHADOW EXCEPT SONIC OR NOT? KEEP READING TO FIND OUT!**

**REVIEWS AND CRITIQUES ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED AS I ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW HOW I CAN MAKE THESE STORIES GREAT FOR YOU GUYS!**

**HAVE A NICE DAY FOLKS!**


End file.
